Radio tuning device



April 7, 1937. J. H. NADEN 2,078,637

RADIO TUNING DEVICE Filed Nov. 1, 1934 J INVENTOR JAMES HENRY NADENATTOR N 5Y5 Patented Apr. 27, 1937 UNITED STATES PANT FFICE RADIO TUNINGDEVICE Application November 1, 1934, Serial No. 750,996 In Great BritainNovember 3, 1933 2 Claims.

This invention relates to station indicators or tuning devices forWireless receiving or transmitting apparatus. It is the chief object ofthe present invention to provide an improved device whereby thebroadcasting station to which the apparatus is required to be tuned canbe preselected Without disturbing for example the previous or existingsetting of the tuning device and after selection of the broadcastingstation, the

tuning device can be manipulated to set the apparatusior reception ofthe programme broadcast by the pre-selected station.

According to the present invention the broadcasting stations or certainof them are indicated on a station indicator which can be movedindependently of the tuning device of the apparatus to bring one of thestations marked thereon into an appropriate position, a member being provided which is moved under the action of the tuning device of theapparatus in relation to the station indicator, the arrangement beingsuch that when the member or a point or mark thereon coincides withanother point on the station indicator the apparatus is tuned for thereception of the selected station. The station indicator preferablycomprises an endless band which is divided transversely into sections,each section having one broadcasting station indicated by name thereon.The said member which is moved under the action of the tuning device ispreferably arranged to move rectilinearly and transversely of thestation indicator and is sultably geared with the tuning device. Thestation indicator or endless band in accordance with another feature ofthe invention is adapted to operate a switch or similar device for thepurpose of automatically rendering the apparatus in condition for thereception of long wave or short wave stations, when a long or short wavebroadcasting station is moved to the pre-selected position.

In order that the said invention may be clearly understood and readilycarried into effect, the same will now be more fully described withreference to the accompanying drawing in which:- Figure l is a frontperspective view of the preferred form of the invention;

Figure 2 is a rear perspective view of Figure 1 with the tuningcondenser omitted;

Figure 3 is an elevation of a detail, and Figure 4 is a plan View of'awave change switch. In the drawing the tuning condenser is indicated bythe reference numeral 5 which is adapted to be rotated by a knob orlever B for rough adjustment and by a knob l for fine adjustment.

The broadcasting stations are indicated on a station indicator 8preferably comprising an endless band as shown, the indicator 8 beingmoved independently of the tuning condenser 5 by a knob 9 which iscoupled to friction discs Ill (one of which is shown in Figure 2) andwhich engage an edge of the band. The endless band moves relatively toan aperture l 2 through which the names of the broadcasting stations arevisible, the endless band being maintained in proximity to the apertureH by a guiding frame [2 whilst the other portion of the band issupported on a roller l3 carried by a rearwardly projecting arm M or inany other suitable manner enabling the band to be moved from time totime. The names of the broadcasting stations in the example shown aremarked in transverse sections and each section has a vertical line 15(Figure 1), the positions of which are correlated to the settings of thecondenser according to the wave lengths of the broadcasting stationsmarked on the band. The knob or lever B may be connected to the spindleof the condenser 5 and the said spindle carries a gear wheel i6 whichmeshes with a rack ll mounted for rectilinear movement and transverselyof the band 8 in suitable guideways in a frame H? from which thecomponent parts of the tuning device are carried. The rack I! carriesthe aforesaid member which is moved under the action of the tuningdevice, said member being indicated by the reference numeral I9 and issupported on an arm 20 projecting upwardly from the rack I I. The arm 20is preferably connected to the rack ll through the medium of screws andslots for adjustment purposes. The member H! has a vertical line 2i andwhen the line 2| on the member l9 coincides with one of the lines l5 theapparatus is tuned for the reception of the particular station. InFigure 1 of the drawing the station Frankfurt" is immediately above themember l9 and when the member I9 is moved by rotating the lever 6 or theknob l to move the line 2| so that it coincides with the line l5, theapparatus is tuned to receive a broadcast from Frankfurt. The gear wheelI6 is attached to a plate 22 which carries a scale 23 preferablygraduated in wave lengths, the scale 23 being visible through anaperture 23 as shown in Figure 1. The plate 22 conveniently constitutesthe member which cooper- I ates with the knob l for a slow motionoperation of the member IQ for time adjustment, the knob I beingassociated with friction discs 24 operating in conjunction with anarcuate portion 24 of the plate 22 as shown in Figure 3. The endlessband 8 is preferably transparent ortranslucent to' enable it to beilluminated from the rear or, alternatively, the band may be opaque andbe illuminated from the front. If desired, instead of providing verticallines 55 on the band 8, points on the band 8 may be inter-connected byinclined lines so that a chart or graph is provided on the band. Theband 8 and the lines l or graph line may be calibrated in any suitablemanner as for example by tuning a standard apparatus for the receptionof a particular station, then marking the position where the line 2i onthe member I9 is adjacent to one of the transverse lines dividing theband 8 into the several sections and so on with all the stations markedon the station indicator and then applying the vertical lines H5 orjoining the points on the band to form the aforesaid chart or graphlines. It is preferred that certain sections of the band 8 be left blankso that the operator may mark on the said blank sections other stations.The broadcasting stations are preferably arranged in alphabetical orderor otherwise suitably arranged so that the direction in which thestation indicator is to be moved to pre-select a station can be readilyascertained.

The apparatus described is accordance with another feature of theinvention combined with a change-over switch or equivalent device forautomatically placing the apparatus in a condition for the reception oflong or short wave stations when a long or short-wave station ispre-selected. For this purpose the band 8 is adapted to operate asuitable switch or equivalent device which functions to connect incircui't certain windings of an aerial or tuning coil or otherwiseplaces the apparatus in a condition for the reception of long or shortwave stations as the case may be. In the example shown, the band 8 onone of its edges is provided against the long wave stations markedthereon, with semi-circular recesses and adjacent to the edge of band 8having the recesses 25, a switch device is disposed indicated generallyby the reference numeral 26, which as shown, comprises a plurality ofspring arms. One of the arms 2'! has partially spherical shaped end 28which can engage the edge of the band or the recesses 25, as the band ismoved so that the switch is opened or closed as the case may be for thepurpose aforesaid. The switch 26 can conveniently be carried by the armM as shown in Figures 2 and 4. It will thus be appreciated that when theband 8 is moved and when a long or short wave station is in theappropriate position above the member iii the apparatus is automaticallyrendered in a condition for the reception of a long or short wavestation. If desired, the switch 25 may be arranged to operate a relaydevice which in turn functions in the manner aforesaid.

It will be appreciated that since the station indicator can be movedindependently of the tuning device any station can be pre-selectedaccording to requirements. For example, should the wireless apparatus betuned for reception of a particular station it is possible to move thestation indicator to pre-select a station to which the apparatus can betuned to receive a prothe wireless apparatus since the apparatus isimmediately set for reception of a particular station when the line onthe transversely movable member I9 coincides with a line on the stationindicator. It may be mentioned that instead of employing the member isany other suitable construction of pointer may be used.

It will be understood that when the band 8 is moved the reception may beinterrupted as a result of operation of the switch 26. This however, isonly intermittent and when, for example, a station is being received ona short wave length and it is desired to move the band 8 to a positionfor the reception of a long wave station it would, in thesecircumstances, be necessary to move the band so that the long wavestation is visible through the aperture H but not directly above themember 1 9, in which event it would of course disturb the previoussetting or reception of the station as a result of operation of theswitch 26.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United Statesis:-

1. A wireless receiving apparatus adapted for long wave and short waveoperation comprising, in combination, a tuning device, an indicatingmember comprising an endless band bearing trans verse inscriptions whichindicate a plurality of broadcasting stations and individually having anindex mark associated with each, means for moving said indicating memberindependently of said tuning device in order to move each inscriptioninto a predetermined position to aid in selecting a broadcastingstation, a cooperating index member coupled to said tuning device so asto move therewith, a switch device adapted for connection to wave changemeans in order to control the same whereby said apparatus is operativefor long wave or short Wave operation, said switch device being mountedin proximity to said indicating member to contact therewith and shapedportions on said indicating member adjacent certain of the inscriptionsmarked thereon, said shaped portions cooperating with said switch devicewhen said shaped portions are disposed opposite thereto to actuate saidswitch device, said index marks being disposed in predetermined spacerelations with respect to said cooperating index member so that whensaid index member coincides with the index mark which is associated witha desired inscription disposed in said predetermined position, thetuning device is in a condition for reception of signals from theselected broadcasting station indicated upon said desired inscription.

2. A station indicator for wireless receiving or transmitting apparatusadapted to be coupled to a tuning device for long wave or short waveoperations, comprising in combination, an endlessband having a pluralityof transverse sec tions thereon, each section bearing an inscriptionindicative of a broadcasting station, each section having an index markthereon, means for moving said endless band independently of said tuningdevice, in order to move each transverse section into a predeterminedposition to select a broadcasting station, a cooperating index membermovable transversely of said endless band and independently thereof,means for coupling said cooperating index member to the tuning device soas to move said cooperating index member with said device, a switchdevice in engagement with said endless band and adapted to switch saidapparatus for long wave or short wave operation, means for supportingsaid switch device adjacent said band, said switch device beingmaintained in a prearranged position by said band and shaped portions onthe band adjacent certain of said sections, said shaped portionsoperating said switch device when moved opposite thereto and the indexmark associated with each section being disposed in a predeterminedspaced relation with respect to said index member so that when the indexmember coincides with the index mark which is associated with a desiredinscription disposed in said predetermined position, the tuning deviceis in a position for reception of signals from the selected broadcastingstation indicated upon said desired inscription.

JAMES HENRY NADEN.

